Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts deride family law system, calling DV a ‘weapon’ and court a ‘slaughterhouse’

Comments by Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, newly unearthed by Guardian Australia, show the full breadth of One Nation’s criticism of the family law system. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Comments by Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, newly unearthed by Guardian Australia, show the full breadth of One Nation’s criticism of the family law system. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts deride family law system, calling DV a ‘weapon’ and court a ‘slaughterhouse’ Exclusive: Resurfaced comments by the One Nation leader underline her criticism of paid family violence leave and domestic violence support groups Pauline Hanson told a podcast last year she believed “your employer should not be responsible” for providing paid domestic violence leave, while her colleague Malcolm Roberts recently referred to the family court as the “slaughterhouse of the nation”, in the latest One Nation comments critical of the family law system to emerge. Hanson claimed on a 2021 podcast that domestic violence was being “used as a weapon” in court proceedings, and criticised domestic violence groups for focusing on support for women. “I feel for the children, I feel for the parents and I’m sick of these feminists who are trying to take over this whole thing and who are actually driving their own agenda. I’m sick and tired of hearing that men are the only perpetrators and they’re denied the right to see their children,” Hanson told the Dad Talk Today podcast in 2021. Hanson’s past comments on domestic violence have drawn renewed scrutiny after a 4BC radio interview last week in which she said family violence was “wrong” but “it’s also a two-way street”. In an interview with the Broken Fathers podcast last year, Hanson described paid leave for those experiencing family and domestic violence as “ridiculous”, calling it “domestic violence holiday leave”. She also suggested domestic violence was taking police away from “real crime” and called for the family law system to be “wound back”. Hanson later claimed her 4BC comments had been taken “out of context” and denied she had downplayed domestic violence. But the newly unearthed comments show the full breadth of One Nation’s criticism of the family law system. In an interview with Hanson for a podcast titled Unemployable Media in January 2025, during a discussion about challenges facing business owners, the podcast host brought up the issue of domestic violence leave. “Nobody in Australia would say domestic violence isn’t a horrible thing, but you’ve got 10 days,” the host began saying, before Hanson interjected. “It should not be tied up in your employment. Your employer should not be responsible,” Hanson said. The federal Labor government in 2022 legislated for 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave annually as a workplace entitlement in the National Employment Standards, upgrading the previous five days’ unpaid leave. The cost is borne by employers. Some businesses raised concerns when the change was legislated, but the social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, said only “a tiny number of people” used the leave. “But they use it to get medical help, report to police, move to a safer home or go to court”. The ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, said the scheme was “an essential lifeline available to workers facing some horrifically dangerous situations”. In the 2021 interview, the One Nation leader criticised “feminist” groups in the domestic violence system. “You have the domestic violence organisations, they’re getting millions of dollars in funding for it. You’ve got these refuges – and I can see that a woman needs to be protected if they don’t have a house to actually go to with the kids, a safe place to go … but you’ve got to offer the same to a man. You can’t just look after women,” Hanson said. Later in the interview Hanson claimed domestic violence was “used as a weapon” in court. “domestic violence here is, the person can go in and say ‘I’m in fear’ and that can be domestic violence. If you text your partner a number of times ‘I want to see my child’, that’s harassment, that can be domestic violence. If you say ‘honey, sorry why’d you buy another pair of shoes? We’ve got the rent to pay’, that’s domestic violence.” Roberts, whose advocacy of conspiracy theories has come under scrutiny, also criticised the family court system in a May interview with the rightwing podcast Cafe Locked Out. “The family law court, a friend of mine describes the family law system as the slaughterhouse of the nation and he’s right,” Roberts said. “It’s set up to divide. It’s set up to make money for lawyers. It’s set up to smash the family.” One Nation and Hanson’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Explore more on these topics Pauline Hanson One Nation Australian politics Malcolm Roberts domestic violence news Share Reuse this content